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With home-grown celebrities like Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole leading the trend, the penchant for sometimes painful stilettos sees an average heel height of 3.3 inches here.

This compares to an average of 2.4 inches among French women and 2.7 inches among German women.

The Spanish were closer to the British in their love of height, wearing an average heel of 3.2 inches, the survey by foot care brand Compeed found.

This may reflect the fact that British and Spanish women tend to be smaller than their German counterparts, the company suggested.

Women in North East England favoured the tallest shoe, opting for an average heel height of 3.46ins.

Londoners trailed behind in their 3.37-inch heels, while women in Eastern England were the most conservative with their footwear, wearing heels averaging 3.25 inches.

Heel height came at a price, however, with 50 per cent of women admitting they were prepared to endure a level of pain comparable with toothache and earache to wear their high heels.

Almost two thirds (65 per cent) of British women cited blisters as a significant source of pain resulting from wearing high heels

Psychologist Emma Kenny said: "Research has suggested that a tall woman is considered more assertive, confident, richer, capable, successful, independent and even more intelligent than her shorter peers.

"Perception is incredibly powerful and it makes sense that the feedback we receive from the way we are treated by others will reinforce our choices.

"The British woman is an ambitious breed, and if putting on a pair of six inch heels increases her career prospects, rightly or wrongly, the savvy individual will do so".